Grado SR60i Headphones

The SR60 has gained "legendary" status. The SR60 has received rave reviews from around the world and is the most commonly recommended headphone on the market today.PRODUCT FEATURES:Vented diaphragm;Non-resonant air chamber;Standard copper voice coil wire;Standard copper connecting cord;Mini plug with 1/4" adaptor.

Cons - Lacks the resolution and the extension of more expensive headphones.

I've repeatedly bought these headphones, despite also owning Stax Lambda electrostatics and more expensive Sennheiser and AKG phones. And, in an even more interesting accolade, when I've bought Stax, Sennheiser and AKG headphones it was when I was a partner in Western Audio of Palo Alto, a dealer in all of those brands, so I paid wholesale or accomodation, not retail. I've never been a Grado dealer, so I've purchased the Grado SR60's at retail every time. This particular pair came from the Metropolitan Opera Shop in NYC, purchased after I left my older pair on a plane. I don't know the secrets to Grado's art, but I can attest to several things with a lifetime of listening skills. These Grado headphones are not "harsh" as some other inexperienced listeners here have claimed. They are warm and smooth, very seductive with all kinds of music, you simply find the music begins to carry you away. If you've never treated yourself to anything but earbuds, these are a revolution compared to the Beats by Dr Dre. Less expensive, but a whole new kind of musical experience. Whether you listen to rap, rock or hillbilly folk music, you won't find anything you can wear as long, listen as carefully to, and get away with throwing into your backpack again and again for years. Grado sells replacement pads and other parts, the only thing I've ever replaced is the pads.

Cons - Non-detachable cable, plastic build, cable is a bit too long for portable use

The SR60i headphones are the entry level headphones in the 'SR' line-up. They retail for a recommended retail price of $79. So, without any more delays, let's discuss these headphones in further detail.

In terms of accessories, these are pretty scarce. You get the headphones, and a snap-on quarter inch adapter. That's it.

Build/Design - Now, if a regular person looked at these headphones, they would probably say that they are ugly and bulky. Well, in a way, they would be right and also wrong. The headphones are made out of plastic and the headband is made of fake leather (my assumption). Design-wise, these headphones have a retro, old school look to them. A lot of people have said that these headphones were their first pair of 'real' headphones, and that is the case with me as well. The cables are double entry, and are joined by a very weird looking Y-connector. At the end of the plug, we have a standard 3.5mm jack that has a chunky enclosure, so you might run into some interference when plugging these headphones into portable players with cases on them.

Comfort - These headphones rest directly on your ears, and i find them incredibly comfortable. They have a slight amount of clamp so that they are stable on your head, but i find that it does not impact the comfort in any way.

Soundstage - Pretty good. These headphones are open, so soundstage is obviously a strong point. You can hear cymbals and instruments that are coming from around you. I would imagine that the soundstage is bigger and better in the other grado headphones, especially the SR325i headphones. Keep in mind, that just because these have a $79 price point does not mean they are bad. It is just a low price for some amazing headphones.

Bass - It is actually quite punchy. This was surprising to me because i generally think that low cost headphones have a muddy, over the top bass performance, but not so with this pair of headphones. Rock music, which is what these headphones are suppose to sound really good with, is really quite enjoyable. This is really great for me because i listen to a lot of rock and metal music, so these definitely are pleasing to my ears.

Midrange - Vocals sound a tiny bit distant, but it is not drastic. They are still clear and you can hear the singer pretty well. If i made these headphones, i would have made the vocals a bit more prominent, but given that these are a low cost headphone, you can't expect a huge amount of vocal separation.

Treble - Detailed. It is, in my opinion, the strong point of these headphones. Rock music and a bunch of other genres sound lively, and quite energetic. I guess you could say that these headphones are bright sounding.

Conclusion - These are very good entry level headphones. For anyone who wants a good sounding low-cost headphone to add to their collection, i would check these out as soon as possible.

This post is coming from a consumer foremost as I can't really call myself an audiophile yet. With that said, there are definitely some things wrong with these headphones. First of all, they are really harsh which makes them uncomfortable for listening. I use headphones to relax, not to be keyed up which also means I can't imagine wearing them to sleep. I have to resort to EQing which isn't recommended.

They also leak sound although not really a con for open ear cans. But for casual listeners who don't have many headphones, these are impractical, secondary headphones. You can't wear em' in your living room cause of the TV, not in the bus cause the driving sounds will make you insane. Even light conversations will spoil your listening experience. Which means more money spent on closed cans or IEMs.

>So most electronic music and modern genres aren't really enjoyable with these because I listen to ambient, minimal, IDM, experimental, etc where every note counts. And the treble in these genres will kill you. Period.
>They sound very good with older genres and acoustic, organic music genres like folk. And also certain songs that are rock. I also tried classical just because of the reviews and they do sound good.

I hate to spoil the Grado fan club but the reviews here were the thing that compelled me to buy them without trying. Turns out "forward, fun, and agressive" meant annoying and harsh to me. I wouldn't had gotten these at any price. Not saying these are bad headphones but they just happen to be bad for me. So If anybody wants to buy them off me just say so.

Edit:

Guys take it easy, sorry I can't conform to all of your views but I can't change my opinion just because some of you guys don't like it. I'm quite taken aback by all the responses, I thought this place would be more open minded. I think its necessary for everybody's opinion to be contributed and considered for a product especially for headphones. I think most people like me use this website as a buying guide and they need to know what the Grado SR60i sounds like with electronic music.

I didn't have the chance to try them before buying and I fell for the hype because I didn't read enough realistic reviews, so I'm trying to put out what is lacking. BTW they did burn-in for awhile and the sound did become a tad less dramatic, not as much as I would had hope though.

Still the buying experience wasn't that bad, I'm sure I needed to know what Grado sound was sooner or later. I now wish I bought the Alessandro MS1i because "based on the reviews", they are a perfect purchase for people who like the Grado sound but can't stand the aggressiveness. I accept that they don't suit me personally but they are good for most circumstances so I'm rating it 3.5 to be objective while sticking to my point of view. I may grow to like them more, who knows?